New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is proposing to form a seven-person team of lawyers to pursue and collect fines from mobile vendors. If enacted, this would cost the city $580,000. In 2006, Mayor Bloomberg quadrupled fines for street vendors. Now mobile entrepreneurs can face up to $1,000 in fines and/or three months in jail for violations.

Unfortunately, New York City has a history of excessively fining vendors. In December 2012, the city repaid almost $230,000 to street vendors who were fined even more than permitted by the law. At least 569 entrepreneurs were affected. The city blamed a “computer error” for the fines. After a long court battle, city officials agreed to pay the difference in fines plus interest.

Yet quite a few of the fines were for code violations that hardly threated health and safety. Faruque Ahmed, who runs a food cart to support his three kids and seriously ill wife, was fined $1,000 for parking too close to a bus stop. He received $877 from the city. Then there’s Mohammad Ali, a peanut peddler, who was fined $1,000 for having his pushcart too close to a crosswalk but received $971 in compensation.